Missing Ingredient: Suit Quality

By: Michael Berkowitz

Missing Ingredient: Suit Quality

My mom insisted I bring pots and pans to college, even though I had no clue how to cook. That led to a friend asking if I would try to make a recipe her french grandmother gave her for her favorite dish. 

I carefully read and re-read every line of the recipe and followed it to a T. My friend tried it and her face fell; it tasted like nothing. Later she called her grandmother and asked what I had messed up. "In France, no one needs to be told to add butter or salt."

Newer players want recipes. Bid X with Y. When you have 6 points do this, when you have 7 do that. Unfortunately, recipes that call for points + shape are missing a key ingredient: Suit quality. 

What do you need to make a 1-level overcall for instance? Don't say 7-17 points and a 5-card suit. That's at best an incomplete answer. When you have a good suit, you don't need 7 points. When you have a bad suit, you need more like 10 or 11.

Take a look at this hand: 

spades54
heartsKQJ107
diamonds432
clubs972.
 
I would overcall 1hearts icon over 1-of-a-minor any day (and at any vulnerability) and you should too. However, if your hand is something like: 
spadesQ92
hearts105432
diamondsK98
clubsQJ, 
Then passing is right, even at favorable vulnerabilty. 
For 2-level overcalls, the requirements should be even stricter. You need 6-card suit or a suit that looks like 6-card in order to